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How do the citizens of Cauldron interact with the Underdark in your games. Is there commerce? Is it a sort of black market thing? Do some people treat the Underdark as just another part of the region? Does everyone know about the tunnels below the city, or is that something that's keept semi-secret?
I'm trying to work out just how much my players should find out, given that I'm running starting with chapter 6, and thus their first interaction with the Underdark will be days away from Caudron.
ajs,
It really hasn’t come up in my own campaign from the player’s perspective about how Cauldron views the Underdark. That said, I would presume that the general population knows that Cauldron has links to the Underdark, but it is not something they tend to dwell on. My reason for this idea is due to the presence of Jzadirune and The Malachite Fortress.
Both locations have been present since the founding of the city. Cauldron’s gnomes and dwarves would be familiar with both sites histories and their contribution to Cauldron’s defense from below.
Beyond just the gnomes and dwarves knowing what is below Cauldron, it is probably a fairly common occurrence to have adventurers dealing with those threats that do have occasion to rise from the Underdark to plague Cauldron. So, I guess my take is that most people treat the Underdark as part of the region that they need to be wary off, but are confident that the problem is being handled by the powers that be.
I hope that the above is of some help and good luck with your campaign.
Good gaming,
Mark
There's not an established Underdark in the immediate area - it makes it easier for the DM to adapt to his own chronicle.
IMC, the area is volcanicly active, so the Underdark is riddled with small-to-large volcano tubes as well as other, more standard, Underdark fare. The dwarves of the Splintershield Clan formed several underground redoubts beneath Cauldron, which helped keep off most menaces until Zenith's departure.
Now? There are the occasional problems - Drakthar's Way would be the extent of the style. Humanoids occasionally make their way to the surface and prey on the locals until put down, known tribes of goblinoids or underdark natives in the immediate area, but who don't really interfere with the surface dwellers, etc.